Northern Lights over the Mound of the Hostages at Tara

Impressive displays of aurora borealis (northern lights) are rare enough in Ireland. At the peak of the sunspot cycle, we might get two or three good displays in a year, but weather often hampers their visibility. It rains a lot in Ireland!

When reports came in that a very strong solar storm was producing nice aurora over Ireland, I went outside here in Drogheda to find it was overcast and spitting rain. I immediately decided to grab my camera bag and tripod, and hopped in the van to drive inland. My son Finn came with me.

We were driving towards the Hill of Tara, which is about a half-hour drive from my home, when the clouds suddenly parted. On the left, we could see Orion shining brilliantly. On the right, the sky was filled with luminous green!

When we got to Tara, there were lots of other photographers there. We walked to Duma na nGiall (Mound of the Hostages) to find that there was nobody there! So I quickly got busy setting up some subtle lighting to illuminate the entrance of the 5,000-year-old passage-tomb, and within a couple of minutes I had captured this beautiful view of the ancient monument.

Many of my aurora photos over the last 23 years were taken at Brú na Bóinne. I didn't have any from Tara. Last night, I finally captured aurora on the Hill of Tara and this photo will surely become one of my all-time favourites from the hill of the high kings of Ireland.